‘Ridiculous’ plan developed in US zoo saves wild rhino’s bleeding eyes in Africa

‘Within about a week, we were actually putting the eye drops strategically in his eyes while he held for it’

A seemingly outlandish plan to administer eyedrops to a wild rhinoceros has yielded remarkable success in Zimbabwe, proving crucial for the survival of an endangered animal. Animal behaviorists, in partnership with the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society in Florida, traveled to Africa in August to tackle a life-threatening parasitic eye infection in a southern white rhino.

Daniel Terblanche, a security manager with Imvelo Safari Lodges, admitted the idea initially seemed far-fetched to local conservationists. "Believe me, we didn’t think of it; it was a completely ridiculous idea to us," Terblanche said. "But without trying all of the things that we could to rectify that situation, we would have been in trouble, I think."

The intervention was vital for the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative, supported by Imvelo Safari Lodges, which is working to reintroduce southern white rhinos to communal lands in Zimbabwe for the first time. The program’s future was jeopardized when Palm Beach Zoo CEO Margo McKnight learned of a health scare involving a male rhino named Thuza during a visit last year.

The intervention was vital for the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative, supported by Imvelo Safari Lodges, which is working to reintroduce southern white rhinos to communal lands in Zimbabwe for the first time

Mark Butcher, managing director of Imvelo Safari Lodges, described Thuza’s dire condition. "This rhino had bleeding eyes. He was rubbing his eyes," Butcher explained. "And I was looking at a potential where this guy was gonna lose his eyesight. And this is in a pilot project that’s got fantastic vision for a future for conservation throughout Africa."

Thad and Angi Lacinak, founders of Precision Behavior, were dispatched to Zimbabwe. They developed a strategy based on techniques used at Palm Beach Zoo, where animals are trained to voluntarily participate in their own care. "With this few animals in this location in Africa, it was essential that we save all of them," Lacinak stated. "So when they called and said, Thuza is going to lose his eye, a blind rhino is a dead rhino. So no matter what it took, we were going to go over there and try."

The innovative approach involved coaxing Thuza into a confined space with his favorite foods, then gradually desensitising him to human touch and water being squirted on his face. "Within about a week, we were actually putting the eye drops strategically in his eyes while he held for it," Lacinak said. "And by the end of two weeks, we had transferred that skill set to not only Daniel, who was in charge of leading their guards, but to the guards."

The intervention was vital for the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative, supported by Imvelo Safari Lodges, which is working to reintroduce southern white rhinos to communal lands in Zimbabwe for the first time

Southern white rhinos are currently listed as near threatened, with approximately 16,000 individuals remaining in the wild, facing ongoing threats from poaching and habitat loss. While these challenges persist, Thuza’s eyesight has been successfully protected.

"They’re consistently getting the medications into his eyes every day," Lacinak confirmed. "And the rhinos are just thriving now and they feel really, really confident that this solved their problem."